NOW Today: Taking Action

Vice President Joe Biden participates in a Google hangout on gun safety.

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Vice President Joe Biden and other Obama administration officials are set to hold a roundtable discussion on the White House’s push to reduce gun violence in Richmond, Virginia today. The event is expected to include gun safety experts who dealt with the aftermath of the Virginia Tech shooting, the deadliest school shooting in American history. The Vice President’s appearance comes a day after he held a Google “fireside” hangout to discuss assault weapons and the NRA. During the online video chat, Vice President Biden was asked whether the proposals he and President Obama introduced last week will actually work. Biden said that the legislation and executive actions would not prevent all shootings like the one in Newtown, Connecticut on December 14th, but are worth moving forward even if they save just one life, adding “because it doesn’t solve the whole problem you shouldn’t do it – I don’t buy the logic of that.” He also said that armed guards in schools would be a terrible mistake. Gun groups like the National Rifle Association have argued in favor of arming guards in schools and say the Obama administration’s plan violates Second Amendment rights. Yesterday, lawmakers also unveiled a sweeping new bill that would ban military-style assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition magazines. The “Assault Weapons Ban of 2013″ – announced by California Senator Dianne Feinstein – is a much more far-reaching proposal than the one that expired in 2004. The legislation would ban the sale, transfer, manufacturing or importation of more than 150 kinds of firearms, and unlike the original 1994 law, would be permanent. The NRA was quick to criticize the plan, calling it “disappointing” and saying it focuses on “curtailing the Constitution.” One person who is in favor of the bill though is someone who knows about the toll of mass shootings all too well: Virginia Tech survivor and Brady Campaign official, Colin Goddard. We’ll speak with Goddard and the panel about the latest action on gun reform when we see you at noon ET on msnbc.